Charlize Theron has a history of portraying ‘action’ heroic roles, whether it be in Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, or The Old Guard. We knew there was no better choice to discuss Hollywood heroines than this 48-year-old Oscar winner because of her career’s abundance of memorable, a**-kicking action roles.

She has acted in several science fiction movies, including Prometheus and Æon Flux. However, she believed that in order to create more compelling female sci-fi characters, certain writing conventions must be followed.

Her character in Æon Flux is incredibly attractive, with a distinctive asymmetrical black hairstyle and exceptional martial arts skills. However, the movie received negative reviews from critics and only made $52.3 million at the box office while having a $55–62 million production budget.

Charlize Theron in Æon Flux (2005)

But that does not stop the actress from speaking out about the unfair treatment of female action stars in Hollywood.

Charlize Theron On Hollywood’s Unfair Treatment of Female Action Stars

Æon Flux gave Charlize Theron her first chance to take the lead in a sci-fi film. The 25th century was the setting for the actress’ role as a highly trained assassin in a 2005 film. However, this Karyn Kusama film did not have much of an effect on the film industry. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently has a 10% of critics rating.

Theron, however, may not have been surprised by the movie’s poor performance because she had already anticipated it from the beginning.

Charlize Theron

The Academy Award-winning actress shared her personal experiences when talking about the dangers of being a female action star. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last year, the 48-year-old actor discussed her experience filming Æon Flux and recalled receiving unfair treatment:

“..And this is going to sound so “poor me,” but I do feel like sometimes, as women, we get one shot and I knew that [the 2005 action flick] Æon Flux was going to be a f**king flop. I knew it from the beginning, that’s why I did Arrested Development.”

Additionally, the actress thought there was still a lot of room for improvement in the way women are typically portrayed in sci-fi movies. She remarked once on Live! With Kelly and Michael:
“I just feel like women have been so misrepresented in these films – why do we have to go and see the genre every single time with the girl in the back of the frame in a push-up bra? Why isn’t there a girl that’s standing on the same playing field with the guys… …we don’t want to be guys, but in a post-apocalyptic world, we will survive.”

Charlize Theron Attributed Her Career Change To This Sci-Fi Film

In contrast to Æon Flux, Mad Max: Fury Road may have fulfilled all of Charlize Theron’s expectations for a science fiction movie. Theron and Tom Hardy were cast in a post-apocalyptic action George Miller-directed film, which was the fourth installment in the Mad Max film series.

The film was precisely the kind that the actress felt she should be proud of. To quote her:

“Max Max: Fury Road really changed the trajectory for me. There are a lot of possibilities here. You just have to find the right people who are willing to explore these stories with women. I became actively involved and became a producer.”

Charlize Theron

Theron has developed a keen interest in the sci-fi genre since she was a young child. She particularly loved Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Ellen Ripley from the Alien series. But apart from an already strong passion for sci-fi films, Theron gravitated towards those kinds of movies to prove a point. The actress once told IGN:

“I’ve always wanted to explore the genre a little bit more, especially because I think it’s such a misconception that women don’t like the genre, or that they don’t want to go and see these movies.” 

Charlize Theron

Theron will next be seen in Victoria Mahoney’s upcoming superhero movie The Old Guard 2. The movie, which is a sequel to The Old Guard (2020), also features KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, and Matthias Schoenaerts. It will be available on Netflix later this year.